Parennial Spotlight: The Blonde Nomads

What travel addict doesn't dream of someday selling all of their belongings and hitting the road to travel full-time? The Blonde Nomads have done just that, and with two little ones in tow. Rob, Tracy, Marli, and Ziggy are an Australian family who are perfecting the art of slow travel. Be sure to follow their blog and Instagram for inspirational posts that'll have you fantasizing about your next family travel adventure.

Parennial Travel: What was the first major trip you took with your family, and how did it go?

The Blonde Nomads: We have been traveling for so long with our little ones it's hard to remember the very first trip. One adventure that come to mind is our trip to The Cook Islands. It was a super long flight with a seven-hour stopover with two tired babies, but once we arrived in Paradise it was all worth it. We have tackled some crazy camping adventures, too. Our first camping trip in a tent as a family of four was when Ziggy was just 12 weeks old and we had three thunderstorms in two nights! It was crazy!

TBN: We love the beach. We can't get enough of water adventures, swimming, fishing and 'all the things'. We find our Mini Blondies are so much happier when outside in nature doing their thing so anywhere outside is a winner for us.

PT: Have you had any disasters while traveling with your kids? How did you deal with it?

TBN: We've had a few things go wrong recently like getting our four-wheel drive bogged in a mud flat in the middle of nowhere with no one around to help, AND the tide rising, AND the sun going down. It was a race against the clock to dig ourselves out of the horrible sticky salty mud. Luckily the kids were happy in their car seats with a movie on so we just kept giving them food as we were up to our knees in mud trying to get the car un-stuck. We managed to get out in the end—it was a pretty messy disaster but makes for a good story now that we are out!

PT: Why do you think it's important to travel with your children?

TBN: Our mini Blondies just love our lifestyle. Traveling full-time has provided them with such a broad understanding of how the world works, especially all things nature. With so much to see and do they are constantly learning and have amazing confidence when it comes to making friends or talking with adults.

PT: Any gear you always travel with?

TBN: We do a lot of adventure travel and off-grid adventures, so we always travel with a survival kit. This includes a satellite phone, snake bandage and general first aid items. In terms of 'kiddy' items, we love our Ergo carrier and use it still for Ziggy who has just turned 3. We take it with us on our hiking adventures and keep it in our pack and when Ziggy gets too tried we simply pop him on our backs.

PT: How do you stay on budget whentraveling with your family?

TBN: We are lucky that our home is traveling with us everywhere we go, so we don't have to pay for hotels or fork out for restaurants, etc. We can find free camps to pull up for the night or seek out caravan parks when in a city or town which are not too expensive. As we work as we travel we can simply choose what activities we do when visiting an area. A lot of towns have a lot of free activities like water parks etc. but we often find pulling up to camp at a beach, lake or bush camp keeps us just as happy and entertained.

PT: What are some mistakes you see parents making when it comes to traveling with kids?

TBN: Trying to fit too much in. If there's one thing we have learnt as a traveling family it's to embrace slow travel. With little ones, it's all about the adventures and not just the destination. They move slow, need more breaks, food and even sleeps so it's important to make sure you factor this into your adventure plans. Don't cram too much into one day, allow for some downtime.